🎞️ Life#
618#
List of 618 shopping items
Mother's Day gift for mom, iPhone 15 Pro Max 256GB, ¥7544
Bought for myself to watch videos and play Jin Chanchan, Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro 12+516, ¥3185
The Uniqlo pants I liked before, original price ¥299, now ¥179
Both the phone and tablet were purchased on Pinduoduo, with simple and direct billions in subsidies + coupons directly available on the page. Who would choose Taobao or JD?
💭 Fragments#
CEO and Three Envelopes#
A struggling company hired a new CEO.
The outgoing CEO privately met with him and gave him three numbered envelopes. "If you encounter major trouble, open these envelopes, but only one at a time," the former CEO said.
Three months passed, and the company's sales and profits continued to decline sharply, putting great pressure on the new CEO.
He began to panic but then remembered the envelopes. He took the first envelope from his drawer, which read: "Blame your predecessor."
The new CEO held a press conference and explained that the former CEO left him a mess, and cleaning it up would take longer than expected, but everything was on the right track. The media and Wall Street were satisfied with his explanation and responded positively.
Another quarter passed, and the company was still struggling. Drawing from previous experience, he opened the second envelope, which read: "Restructure." So, he fired employees, consolidated departments, and cut costs as much as possible, earning praise from Wall Street and the media for his efforts.
Three months later, the company's sales and profits were still stagnant. Before the earnings call, he walked into his office, closed the door, and opened the third envelope, which read: "Prepare three envelopes."
I am a Programmer, Not a Compiler#
A lot of interviews and exams basically test how much you can replace a compiler. For example, the Java certification exam tends to focus on syntax and compilation issues rather than actual programming skills or system design abilities.
📰 Weekly Excerpts#
Floor796#
Floor796 is an ever-expanding animated scene showcasing life on the massive space station 796! The project's goal is to create the largest animation possible, referencing many movies, games, anime, and memes.
Most characters are clickable: you can find out the type of character and click the source link. Non-clickable characters are fictional.
As a hobby, all scenes are drawn by one person using a special online editor in a browser. You can watch the process of drawing some blocks on YouTube.
- May 10, 2024: "Prometheus and Bob" (1996, Nickelodeon, KaBlam!)
- May 10, 2024: "Doom 2 - Monsters"
- May 10, 2024: "Doom 2 - Pain Elementals and Cheats"
- May 5, 2024: "Girl and Grif's Peter Bullhead Hoverboard"
- May 5, 2024: "Old Biff and Jennifer (Back to the Future 2)"
- May 2, 2024: "Marty McFly (Back to the Future 2)"
- May 2, 2024: "Grif (Back to the Future 2)"
- April 28, 2024: "My Neighbor Totoro"
- April 28, 2024: "Doc Brown and DMC DeLorean (Back to the Future)"
So awesome, simply amazing.
It's incredible to have the ability to realize a dream scene!!!
Baidu Wenxin Large Model Announces Two Major Models ENIRE Speed and ENIRE Lite Free to Use#
Today, Baidu Smart Cloud announced that the two main models of the Wenxin large model, ENIRE Speed and ENIRE Lite, are now completely free, effective immediately.
It is reported that ByteDance recently launched the Doubao large model and announced that the price of large models has entered the "cent era," claiming to be "99.3% cheaper than the industry."
Subsequently, Alibaba Cloud also announced a 97% price reduction for Qwen-Long to compete.
Baidu has gone a step further, directly announcing that the two main models are free, marking the arrival of the free era for large models.
Source
Source
It takes determination
Publishers Say No to 618 Promotions#
Web Summary#
Publishing institutions refuse to participate in the e-commerce platform's 618 promotions, citing that the promotional conditions proposed by the e-commerce platform are too low, leading to losses for publishing institutions.
Publishing institutions believe that the promotions have lost their value, with sales declining year by year, and the main site traffic of e-commerce platforms diminishing, weakening the value of internal rankings.
Publishing institutions are sensitive to "discounts," as platforms, influencers, and distributors are all watching the discounts of top products.
The price comparison mechanism has destroyed the pricing system, putting immense pressure on publishing institutions.
Key Points#
- Publishing institutions refuse to participate in the e-commerce platform's 618 promotions due to low promotional conditions leading to losses.
- Publishing institutions believe promotions have lost their value, with sales declining year by year, and the main site traffic of e-commerce platforms diminishing, weakening the value of internal rankings.
- Publishing institutions are sensitive to "discounts," as platforms, influencers, and distributors are all watching the discounts of top products.
- The price comparison mechanism has destroyed the pricing system, putting immense pressure on publishing institutions.
Excerpt#
What has happened is the continuous rise in book prices. According to OpenBook data, the median price of new books in 2019 was ¥45, which rose to ¥49 in 2022, while ten years ago, the median price of new books was ¥29, showing a significant increase.
To cope with the discount pressure from e-commerce, the few choices for publishing institutions are to raise book prices. Since 2018, the pricing of new books has been rising year by year, and even the price surge has become one of the main drivers of growth in the book industry, leading the entire book industry into a vicious cycle of "high pricing, low discounts," severely squeezing the survival space of physical bookstores and laying the groundwork for future difficulties. The explosion of short video channels has intensified this pressure, but most publishing institutions' top products have already completed pricing adjustments in the previous round, making it difficult to adjust again in the short term, resulting in a phenomenon where publishing institutions "lose money to gain exposure" but have to grit their teeth and persist.
Readers' tolerance for price increases is also nearing its limit. Although there are no direct conflicts, complaints about high book prices are rampant on social media. The publishing institutions' overly weak public promotion capabilities and reader relationship maintenance lack the ability to explain the cost structure and market logic of books to the public, leading readers to blame the publishing institutions for "high pricing." In the industry ecosystem, the publishing side, which is in a weak position, is even branded as "capital" and criticized, while the misalignment of readers' and publishing institutions' perceptions, combined with the purchasing habit of "not placing orders unless it's the lowest historical price," leaves publishing institutions in a difficult position.
Publishers Say No to 618 Promotions - Huxiu
This is a vicious cycle, as frequent discounts lead to rising product prices.
E-commerce needs to limit frequent promotional events; a few times a year is enough, so that businesses can profit, and users won't buy useless things due to various discount activities.
"Divine Prophecy" Reappears, Leike Defense Hits Limit Up! Company Responds#
Following Nanjing Chemical Fiber and Zhongtong Bus, Leike Defense has also been "divinely predicted." A shareholder mentioned in the Tonghuashun stock forum that a performance would take place at 10 o'clock. On that day, the company hit the limit up around 10 o'clock. By the close, the company's stock price was reported at ¥4.6 per share, with a closing increase of 10.05%. Regarding the matter, Leike Defense's securities department staff responded, "The company is aware of the limit up. However, regarding the rumors in the stock forum, the company is not aware. The company's production and operations are normal, and there have been no significant changes in fundamentals."
Details
Hehe
Pinduoduo Q1 Revenue ¥86.81 Billion, Market Value Exceeds Alibaba#
Yesterday, Pinduoduo released its Q1 2024 financial report, with revenue of ¥86.81 billion, exceeding market estimates of ¥76.86 billion, a year-on-year increase of 131%; adjusted net profit was ¥30.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 202%.
The financial report also highlighted other aspects:
Revenue from online marketing services and other services was ¥42.4562 billion, a 56% increase compared to the same period last year
Transaction service revenue was ¥44.3558 billion, a 327% increase compared to the same period last year
R&D expenses in Q1 were ¥2.9 billion, a 16% year-on-year increase
Pinduoduo Executive Director and Co-CEO Zhao Jiazhen stated that the company will continue to focus on the consumer end, supply end, compliance, and platform ecology as a long-term strategy for high-quality development.
After the financial report was released, Pinduoduo's pre-market stock price surged over 13%, reaching $158.46 per share. With the release of the financial report, Pinduoduo's market value once again surpassed Alibaba.
This profit is indeed shocking
Bilibili Terminates Decision to Cancel Display of Playtime Data#
Yesterday, Bilibili's community and product head Fang Fang responded under a video discussing playtime: the B station officially decided to cancel the revision of the playtime indicator.
Fang Fang stated that the function's revision was overly idealistic and confidently created something that needed external acceptance and understanding. Previously, no platform or product in the world counted based on playtime.
Last year, Bilibili announced that video data would change from play counts to total playtime displayed, and it is known that this function has been in gray testing for over a year.
Hahaha, long video pill
Targeting "Taiwan Independence"! Eastern Theater Command Releases Combined Poster "Cross-Sea Killer"#
"Taiwan independence" and peace in the Taiwan Strait are irreconcilable
The Eastern Theater Command conducts the "Joint Sword - 2024A" exercise
It is a strong punishment for the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces' attempts to seek "independence"
A serious warning against external forces' interference and provocation
The theater's officers and soldiers
With long whips in hand, standing ready
Forging the arrow to the blue sky
Researching the killer weapon
Blood boiling for the homeland
Shining the long sword against the wind
The killer weapon targeting "Taiwan independence" is now in place
Source
Alibaba Discloses Investment Details in Moonshot AI: $800 Million for Approximately 36% Equity#
On the evening of May 23, Alibaba Group released its fiscal year 2024 annual report, with revenue increasing by 8% year-on-year to ¥941.168 billion. The company invested approximately $800 million in the artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI, acquiring about 36% equity, as part of its preferred stock investment in Moonshot.
Cai Chongxin and Wu Yongming, as the chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, issued the first jointly signed letter to shareholders. In the letter, they elaborated on their thoughts over the past year, including the new development stage of "Who is Alibaba," why they made the current strategic choices, and stated that they would take action against "big company disease," emphasizing that the company "will use AI as the most powerful variable to change and accelerate business growth." (Source: Interface News)
Selling so early, large models are indeed short of money and computing power, forced to do so
One-Third of Amazon Warehouse Workers Receive Food Stamps or Medical Assistance#
One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps, Medicaid or other government assistance, according to a new survey. Can someone explain why taxpayers like you and me have to subsidize profits for a man worth $206 billion?
Twitter user Dan Price pointed out in a tweet that according to a new survey, one-third of Amazon warehouse workers rely on food stamps, medical assistance, or other government aid. He questioned why taxpayers like us have to subsidize the profits of a billionaire worth $206 billion.
HN Comments 443 comments | Author: ZuckMusk | 1 day ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40443907
- The economic value of low-skilled labor decreases with increasing automation, and the economic utility of most people will become negligible, leaving the only option for these people to starve or implement universal basic income.
- The actual value of labor decreases because the value of infrastructure increases, making the actual value of labor lower as it can be utilized efficiently.
- The prices of some resources are far higher than others, depending on supply and demand and bargaining power, rather than the actual value involved in the process.
- Massive automation will make low-skilled workers easier to replace, giving businesses enormous economic leverage over workers.
- Companies should raise wages to fill positions rather than overworking existing employees.
- Wages should be increased by gradually reducing subsidies for crops like corn to ensure food security.
- Both capitalist and socialist policies need to be implemented simultaneously to achieve wealth redistribution through gradually increasing capital gains taxes and providing more benefits.
- A progressive tax system should be implemented, taxing capital gains and dividends at higher rates to ensure that benefits mainly flow to workers.
- The U.S. could implement a progressive tax system to redistribute wealth to citizens through stock buyback programs.
- To avoid stocks being sold, they could be placed in retirement accounts, so people face tax penalties for early sales.
- By providing appropriate benefits and welfare, help people achieve self-sufficiency rather than lifelong dependence on government aid.
Source
Increase employment, but only to meet basic needs. The world is so big, and there are so many people that even the U.S. cannot provide enough resources to satisfy most people.
Windows Recall Sounds Like a Privacy Nightmare#
This article discusses the potential privacy risks associated with the Windows Recall feature. Windows Recall is an AI feature designed to allow users to "go back in time" by "taking images of your activity screen every few seconds" and using AI for analysis on Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs. The article points out that while this sounds like a cool feature, the privacy issues it raises are concerning. Recall will store a large amount of screenshot data on the device, recording almost all user actions on the computer, including passwords and private data, which may be visible to anyone with access to the device.
The article also mentions some security risks, such as when using public computers, others could access your banking information and passwords; when using work laptops, employers or IT teams could track your work; and when using home computers, family members could view your operation history. To protect privacy, users are advised to create separate personal profiles when using Recall, set password protection for profiles, encrypt Recall data, and turn off Recall when handling sensitive data.
Overall, the article emphasizes the privacy risks that Recall may pose and suggests that users take measures to protect their privacy or disable the feature altogether.
HN Comments 278 comments | Author: segasaturn | 1 day ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40443682
- Comments mention that Windows Recall may record users' private information, causing privacy panic;
- Comments point out serious warnings similar to the beginning of a movie but show little concern for general users' criminal behavior;
- Discussed how DVDs began asking for language choices to threaten users in that language;
- Comments mention that Windows Recall may be designed to track employee computer usage;
- Comments discuss that Windows Recall may record passwords but also mention that passwords are usually displayed as asterisks;
- Comments point out that Windows Recall may record data and send it to third parties, potentially leaking sensitive information;
- Comments mention that users' concerns about privacy may require legislation or litigation to resolve;
- Comments discuss privacy issues with Microsoft products and users' concerns about privacy.
2024 05 24 HackerNews | SuperTechFans
I actually saw this idea on Product Hunt a few months ago.
Essentially, it's just adding AI to DeepTrust, haha.
📚 Articles#
NIO, Still Holding a Trump Card#
This article mainly discusses NIO's long-term strategy and future plans, with the following key points:
- Marathon-style development philosophy: NIO founder Li Bin emphasizes that the company adopts a long-term development strategy and is not in a hurry for short-term profits.
- New brand LeDao: NIO launches a new brand LeDao, targeting the market for family cars priced below ¥200,000, further expanding market coverage.
- Adhering to battery swapping model: NIO continues to promote its battery swapping model, believing it guarantees long-term benefits for users.
- Third brand plan: NIO plans to launch a third brand to cover more market segments.
Battery swapping is great, but everyone is worried about what happens when a new battery replaces an old one. In my opinion, it should leave the factory without a battery; either buy one or swap one.
The Real China 2024 During Annual Report Season#
The article starts with the shareholder letter from Chen Qizong of Hang Lung Group during the annual report season, combining his stance and insights to look at the current economic development from multiple aspects, including overall economic conditions, international environment, and technological development.
Worth a look, numbers don't lie.
The Euro Cup is Coming, But Will You Stay Up Late to Watch?#
Web Summary#
This article mainly discusses the impact of the match times of the 2024 Euro Cup on Chinese fans and the declining appeal of football among young people.
The article points out that the match times of the Euro Cup are quite "cruel" for Chinese fans, as most matches take place in the early morning, leading fans to be reluctant to stay up late to watch.
Additionally, the article mentions the declining appeal of football among young people, which may be related to the rise of fragmented entertainment and virtual sports like esports.
Key Points#
- The match times of the 2024 Euro Cup are quite "cruel" for Chinese fans, as most matches take place in the early morning.
- The match times of the Euro Cup may lead Chinese fans to be unwilling to stay up late to watch.
- The appeal of football among young people is declining, possibly due to the rise of fragmented entertainment and virtual sports like esports.
- Esports events such as the Electronic Premier League and Esports World Cup have a certain influence among young people.
- Young people's understanding and experience of football are more through small screens and virtual worlds on keyboards.
There's nothing much to discuss; the past popularity was due to limited choices. It never deserved that much attention; it's just one of many sports, and sports are just one of many hobbies.
I will watch popular matches at suitable times, but I can't stay up to watch matches at 3 a.m.
China's Massive Purchase of Global Salmon - Titanium Media Official Website#
Web Summary#
This article introduces the huge demand from Chinese consumers for salmon and the market situation of salmon in China.
Salmon is rich in Omega-3 and various vitamins, making it highly nutritious and a favorite for many.
The Chinese market consumed 80,000 tons of salmon, equivalent to 13 million fish, showcasing the enormous demand.
Due to harsh living conditions, low production, difficulty in catching, and long ocean transportation times, domestic salmon prices have remained high.
Domestic companies have also begun to layout the salmon market, but domestic salmon farming faces many challenges.
Key Points#
- Chinese consumers have a huge demand for salmon, making them a significant driving force in the global salmon market.
- Salmon is rich in Omega-3 and various vitamins, making it highly nutritious and favored by consumers.
- The demand for salmon in the Chinese market is enormous, but domestic salmon prices remain high.
- Domestic companies are beginning to layout the salmon market, but face challenges such as harsh farming conditions, low production, and difficulty in catching.
Be wary of domestic salmon; it's not very nutritious but still expensive, and it can't be eaten raw.
I did buy a small portion of sashimi at Hema before, but I wasn't used to the texture and taste, and my cat wouldn't eat it either, so it seems we're both rough pigs who can't handle fine bran.